- Piet-my-vrou (Red Chested Cuckoo)
.
New Beginnings
.
I awoke to a rain-washed day
With smells of new mown hay,
A clear crisp bite in the air:
The best time of the year.
.
Winter’s becoming a memory
While summer waits in the wings
With promises of pleasures sensory
Suspended till the Piet-my-vrou* sings.
.
*Etymology
From Afrikaans piet-my-vrou, literally ‘Peter my wife’, supposed
representation of the bird’s call.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piet-my-vrou
Image: Red-chested
Cuckoo Cuculus solitarius Piet-my-vrou
http://www.stellenboschwriters.com/jillsbirds.html
©DGA 6 November 2011 07:58
06/11/2011 at 9:40 am
Exact opposite weather here…but, then it always changes.
Bless You
paul
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 9:51 am
Hi Paul, thanks for liking my poem. Enjoy whatever weather comes around, my friend, it changes soon enough… Bless you too.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 10:40 am
Thank you Denise, lovely words and I do like your Cuckoo with the red chest
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 10:57 am
Wish I could record him for you to hear, Patrecia!
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 11:15 am
“Promises of pleasures” is there in each new day if we have an open heart.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 11:19 am
I think each new day is itself a promise come true, Maxi.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 11:26 am
It’s almost like athelets in their blocks at a 100 meter race, waiting for the gun to go off.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 11:39 am
Hahaha, Sunamu. Here it is a series of false starts…
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 11:40 am
Hi Adee…wish Cape Town would wake up and get the summer feeling.
Mind you….today is lovely…am heading for the beach just now.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 11:46 am
Ah, Gran, I envy you. Enjoy your day… bless you, and love to Wendy.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 1:36 pm
Great Denise. Of course Spring is a season of great anticipation.
I was not aware of that variety of cuckoo.
Thanks for the vision of spring.
John
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 2:21 pm
I didn’t know it was a cuckoo, John. I only saw that when I was looking for a photo. Glad you enjoyed the post.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 2:05 pm
i agree each day being a new promise…nice capture adee…so much anticipation of new life in spring…
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 2:23 pm
Thanks so much Brian. I really love seeing all the new buds appearing…
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 3:03 pm
Beautiful capture of the ebb and flow of seasons. 😀
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 3:24 pm
Thanks Nancy. 🙂
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 6:34 pm
I remember days like that 🙂
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 7:11 pm
My favourite days, between seasons! 😀
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 6:39 pm
Love it, nice flow, nice sentiment, and jealousy invoking. “Peter my Wife”?
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 7:13 pm
When you hear them, it sounds exactly like “Piet my vrou” – quite weird!
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 6:44 pm
This post holds a lot of promise and a totally different view of anticipation from your previous one. Love it! Interesting how people interpret bird-call, isn’t it? Where I grew up we had a meadowlark that spoke of coming rain (though not in English). 😉
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 7:18 pm
Aha, Ruth, you can’t believe everything you read. 😉 That bird call is so unmistakeably clear. I will google and see if I can find a recording…
http://www.africam.com/wildlife/soundsafricambirds
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 7:32 pm
Spring feels warm with this blast from you today, Denise. Thank you. And, I love the bird.
LikeLike
06/11/2011 at 7:34 pm
Thanks, Andra, it was my pleasure. I found a recording of the sound:
http://www.africam.com/wildlife/soundsafricambirds
LikeLike
07/11/2011 at 12:16 am
Wonderful!
LikeLike
07/11/2011 at 12:58 am
Thank you Mark.
LikeLike
07/11/2011 at 1:36 am
Have to remember seasons opposite northern hemisphere but the thoughts are above and not dependent upon season.
LikeLike
07/11/2011 at 6:27 am
Yes, Carl, you’re going into winter while we’re going into summer. But these between times are, to me, the best! 😀
LikeLike
07/11/2011 at 6:39 am
The sounds, smells and sights of Africa – lovely, Adee – had to hop over and listen to the piet-my-vrou for a bit of nostalgia 🙂 Thanks
LikeLike
07/11/2011 at 6:42 am
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Bb! 😀
LikeLike